Excelsior Hotel (281, Gloucester Road, Causeway Bay, Hongkong)

Exceeded my expectations as usually Coffee Shops in Hotels r not the best places to have a memorable meal. Liked it.

Excelsior Hotel, Causeway Bay, Hongkong

Meal for 2: HK$ 300 onwards

Cuisine Type: Vegetarian & Non Vegetarian

Description:

Have been staying in this Hotel for the past two days & have had different kinds of food so far. Here is how it was.

Room service

We asked for Fried seafood noodle – It turned out to be what we know as American Chopsuey in India. Deep fried thin noodles, Hard & crispy in texture, looks like a nest, placed at the base of the plate. Gravy poured on top of that. The gravy soaked noodles tasted better than just the dry crispy ones coz those were different from normal noodles but attained a very interesting texture.
Pok choy was the only green vegetable in the noodle & among the seafood were large prawns, calamari (squid) & some excellent scallops. The scallops were very soft in texture & had a very robust taste. Prawns were soft, mildly juicy & not at all chewy. The calamari was a bit short of optimum in terms of the texture. Overall, a very enjoyable meal.

Fried noodles with seafood

Fried Oyster cake with leek & egg omlette – A deep fried food, this conceptually cud have been a baked dish as well. A bit more oily – the texture initially reminded me of Fish Batter fry that we used to eat around at Benfish Kolkata. However, quite quickly I figured out that it was closer to fish Kabiraji.

oyster omlettes

The inside was deshelled oysters (as it is) bound together by egg & sprinkling of leeks. I found the same dish being served at the traditional Roadside eatery at Temple street night market. Tasty, Enjoyable & interesting dish but a bit too oily for some people. Maybe this one wud have felt much better if it was cooked by any method other than deep frying………… but who am I to comment on traditional dish of this place??………….. just a humble foodie.

There was a tiny Indian section too. Live stations constantly had queues. Needless to say that the Indian food was just ok. Nothing great.

Special mention to the salmon sashimi at the Japanese counter, Peking duck at the Chinese Counter, a very large dessert & fruit section. The sashimi was outstanding & the wasabi was good at hitting the sinuses. The Peking Duck at China Garden, Hyatt, New Delhi is much better. The choice of everything was so high that at times I was feeling like a kid in a candy shop.

peking duck, sashimi & honey pork

The coffee shop

Went for Thai Fish cake & salad with Nuoc Cham dressing. The texture reminded me of crab cakes. The fish cake had a slightly thick outer layer & very soft & juicy inside. Tasty & cool – though some people might find it a bit oily since it is deep fried. I liked it & likely to order again.

thai fish cakes

For main course, had ‘fish balls with flat rice noodle soup’ – Though the menu card mentioned fish balls, the dish had fish ‘cuboids’ as well. Loved it so much that had it again next morning at the live food station. So here is how it was made:

The gentleman at the food station took the pieces of fish ball & fish cuboids in a 15cm deep vessel with multiple pores. Then he dipped the vessel into boiling water, added pokchoy & took it out in max one minute. Poured the contents into a bowl, poured a light colored translucent broth from a huge container & garnished the dish with spring onions. He also gave deep fried dried fish to be added to the dish. I kept muching on those as it is. Very interesting – texture like wafer & tasted like fish.

the noodle soup

My father (who has almost opposite eating habits than me) wud love to eat this dish as it has no fat, no oil, no masala but tastes sooooooooooo good.

the dried fish fry

Towards the end I added a dark brown chilli paste to the noodle soup & the taste became even more interesting. I cud not believe my eyes how easy it was to make & how good it tasted. Will have to convince ANONYMOUS to try making it.

Later, on another meal, tried the same thing with mushrooms, beef balls & beef strips. That looked interesting & tasted good but realized that the fish one was surely better.

beef balls, beef strips & veggies soup

For dessert had an excellent cremebulee with ginger & topped with strawberries & a thin twisted wafer. The ginger added a new dimension to the usual dish of this dessert.

creme bulee with ginger & strawberries

Good experience so far. Will keep updating u all on food at this place.